FAMILY TREE RESEARCH

What is Family Tree Research?
This is detailed genealogical research which uncovers the lives of your ancestors, generation by generation. The branches of your family tree are systematically retraced and brought to life – your ‘lost’ ancestry ‘regained’.

How far back will the research go?
When we research your family tree we will be focusing on a specific ancestral line - a family surname - of your choice.

For an all-inclusive fee we will provide a first major stage of research into your Family Surname Line, going back through as many generations as time permits. If the starting point is the 20th century and the research is based within Great Britain then 3 or 4 generations is a realistic target.

Considering the possibilities
You may wish us to research the surname shared by your father, his father, grandfather, and so on (paternal line). This is the most commonly requested research.

Alternatively, you may wish us to research similarly the maiden surname of your mother (maternal line).

Of course, since each of us has two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and so on, and every other grandparent/great-grandparent etc introduces a new maiden surname into the equation, there is scope for research into several surnames within each family tree.

Special rates
You may wish us to research more than one Family Surname Line. Indeed, the most popular request is to research back in time both a paternal Surname Line and its accompanying maternal Surname Line. We would offer this at special rates.

What we will provide you with

At the end of our commissioned research into a Family Surname Line we will provide you with a portfolio containing:

a family tree or chart (drawn from the information you provided and the outcome of our research)
a report which will
- tell the developing family story, each generation being researched and placed within its historical context through a systematic analysis of national and local records and associated documentation (this is the main part of the report)
- cite sources
- suggest possibilities for future research
copies/abstracts of documents acquired in our research (including, at least, some of the following: birth, marriage and death certificates, census returns, parish registers, bishops’ transcripts, non-conformist registers, wills, death duty registers, deeds, sasines, official service records, directory entries, newspaper reports, monumental inscriptions, kirk session records, settlement papers, bastardy orders, apprenticeship indentures, quarter sessions records, assizes records, jurors lists, electoral rolls, poll book entries, land and property taxes, tithe survey records, manorial rentals and surveys)

NOTE: Copies of documents, like postage and packing, are treated as part of the fully inclusive package, no additional charges being made.

Timeframe
We would aim to complete this research within about 12 weeks.

Cost assurance
In the unlikely event that we cannot make headway with your family line, you will qualify for a refund. (For details of our Refunds Policy please go to Terms & Conditions.)

Customised Research | Fees

‘ADD-ON’ OPTIONS

This Research Service is supported by two ‘add-on’ options:

EXTENDED RESEARCH

If you are happy with the outcome of the first major stage of research, you might choose to extend our commission into a further stage of research.

Such extended or 'follow-up' research applies equally to Family Tree and Customised Research Projects and would be available for as long as you wish research to continue and for as long as we feel that such research could prove productive and in your best interest.

How far back might Extended Research go?
To put things into some sort of genealogical perspective, more often than not family lines can be researched back to the mid 1700s. If you are lucky, existing documentation will go back as far as 1538 when parish registers were first started, extending the scope of our research.

What you would receive at the end of Extended Research
Should we receive from you a request to continue into a further stage of research (to go back through further generations or to investigate another family line, for instance), then appropriate additional material will be provided upon its completion - such as an expanded family tree along with any new documentation and an extension to the existing report.

'ON-LOCATION’ RESEARCH (UK & IRELAND)

Since families move about from area to area, and even country to country, research is sometimes required in faraway places.

On occasions, local support researchers can provide useful help. However, a difficulty can arise when research becomes complex, in which case we, the Principal Researchers, with our clear overview and detailed knowledge of research done for you to date, will have greater likelihood of success.

In these circumstances we will offer you the option of 'On-location' Research.

Our offer
We will travel to any archives or locations relevant to your family history within the UK and Ireland, should you so wish. With our knowledge and experience of far-away repositories and budget travel know-how, we can usually make such necessary research economically viable.

If work on your family line is at a stage where we feel 'On-location' Research would be appropriate, and additional funds would make this possible, we will advise you of this and provide you with a breakdown of projected expenses. We will then await your instructions.

Customised Research | Fees | Case Study